The structure of Cole Palmer to Newcastle concerned him to celebrate his 23rd birthday by training with his Chelsea teammates and then popping to his local astroturf for a kickabout with friends before going home to view the Champions League promotion of that night.
The European Elite competition is exactly where the blues want to be themselves and whatever downtime was enjoyed by Palmer on Tuesday, the international of England is insisting that he means things in St James' park today.
Some within Chelsea see this as their biggest match of the season. The person who manages to win would take a huge step in the direction of securing Champions League football.
Palmer insists that he and his teammates cannot show signs of fear if they take on Newcastle, so that they do not want to 'eat alive' by the army of Geordies waiting for them.
“On my birthday I started training, I went to the Astro with my friends for a kickabout and then went home and looked at the Champions League,” said Palmer, whose birthday fell on Tuesday when Inter Milan Barcelona beat 4-3 to win 7-6. “It was good.
'Newcastle is a big game. We know what the stadium is like and we know that they are also in a Champions League spot. We know it will be a tough game, but we are going there to win. Hopefully we can do that.
“We have to go there and be brave. If you go there and you are not brave, or you are scared, they can eat you alive. We have to be on it. '
Palmer finally ended his scoring drought in the last Premier League victory of Chelsea on Liverpool, after he had previously gone 18 games without a goal.
He, and others such as Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, could rest in the middle week in Europe while the blues reached the conference complicet tones by beating Djurgarden with 1-0, with a 5-1 total victory in general.
Palmer was reminded by a journalist in the mixed zone compared to the 16-year-old Reggie Walsh, who wrote history in starting Chelsea in the second stage on Thursday, he is now practically an 'old man' at the age of 23.
Palmer joked: 'F *** ING Hell, what are you compared to reggie?
'It is clear that Reggie is young, but he has trained with us a few times. He is a very good player. I look forward to seeing what he can do. '
Palmer added that he thinks that his leadership skills improve when he adds: “I am still young, so I have to grow and grow.”
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